Then, during a conversation, friends mention ETFs. It sounds interesting until the explanation disappears into financial jargon. Now you are wondering: what exactly is an ETF? You are in the right place.

Welcome back to The Learning Journey, or TLJ, a community built around giving people a more structured way to make informed financial decisions.

In our Financial Equilibrium series, Step 5 explored how to start investing. This time, we are looking closer at one product that has gained recognition over the last two decades: the exchange-traded fund, or ETF.

What is an ETF?

An exchange-traded fund (ETF) is a collection of assets packaged into a fund that can be bought and sold on a financial market, or exchange.

Think of a supermarket basket filled with Italian pasta, tomato sauce and vegetables for a soup. Different products and brands, but all connected by one purpose.

An ETF works similarly. It brings together investments - such as shares, bonds or other assets - connected by a market, sector, asset class or theme.

One ETF might track 500 of the largest US-listed companies, such as the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF.

Another might focus on clean energy, such as the iShares Global Clean Energy Transition UCITS ETF.

Or, if you are interested in real estate but not ready to buy property, the iShares European Property Yield UCITS ETF tracks listed European property companies. That flexibility is part of their appeal.

Why did ETFs become so popular?

As of 2026, ETFs are a major part of US investing. The chart shows the scale: three of the largest US-listed S&P 500 ETFs together have approached US$2.5 trillion in assets under management.

That scale tells us ETFs are no longer niche. But popularity alone is not a reason to invest. The better question is: what problem are they solving?

Technology has widened access to trading platforms, while passive investing has grown. At TLJ, however, we see three simple reasons.

1) ETFs demystify investing

How often have you heard, “I knew Apple would do well this year”? Hindsight makes investing look obvious. In reality, even professionals struggle to identify the next winner.

An ETF makes the first step less dependent on finding one perfect company. Instead, one product lets you own small pieces of many businesses.

This does not remove every decision. You still choose:

• How much risk you are comfortable taking.

• How much money you want to invest.

• How frequently you want to invest.

• Which type of ETF fits your objective.

The difference is that your outcome no longer rests on one company or prediction. The first step becomes more manageable, and risk is spread differently.

2) ETFs diversify investment portfolios and can lower risk

If you do not manage every investment yourself, are you exposed to more risk? Not necessarily.

ETFs can spread your money across companies, sectors or assets. If Apple fell 50%, an S&P 500 ETF holding it would also fall, but the rest of the basket would dilute the impact. The same applies to gains.

That is the trade-off: one winner has less power to carry the fund, but one loser has less power to damage it.

ETFs are not risk-free: broad markets can fall, and narrow funds can remain concentrated. Diversification is a cushion, not a guarantee.

One question remains: how much of your return do you keep?

3) ETFs can reduce costs

Lastly, something investors often overlook: costs.

A simple formula helps:

Profit = Investment return - Costs

Returns are exciting; costs are quieter. But unlike tomorrow’s performance, costs can be examined before investing.

For every EUR 10,000 invested, an ETF charging 0.14% costs about EUR 14 per year, while an equity mutual fund charging 0.40% costs EUR 40. The EUR 26 gap looks small, but across 20 years every fee also loses the chance to compound.

Low cost does not make an ETF suitable. Returns matter, but so does what you keep.

Before you buy: start with the factsheet, not the buy button

ETFs can make investing easier to understand, easier to diversify and less costly to maintain. But simple does not mean automatic. This article is not telling you what to buy. It is showing you what to check first.

Check what it tracks, holds and costs, and whether it fits your goal and risk tolerance. If you cannot explain it in one sentence, do not buy it yet.

The TLJ question for the community

What ETF might you want to own one day? Find its factsheet. Before checking performance, look at its index, holdings and fee. Can you explain what you would own in one sentence?

ETFs do not remove effort or risk. They can make the first step clear enough to move you from watching to deciding. Remember: consistency begins with understanding what you own.

Thank you, and until the next time,

The TLJ Community

This month had a birthday, a repair, extra meals out, and one harmless-looking purchase. Alone, none felt serious. Together, they changed the month.

Then comes the thought: I messed up. Perhaps you overspent. Perhaps life became expensive. Either way, the answer is not punishment. It is a reset.

An expensive month is not a financial identity. It is a number that needs a plan.

Welcome back to The Learning Journey, or TLJ, a community helping people make informed financial decisions through a structured approach.

This breather is about what happens next. No impossible no-spend plan or dramatic overhaul. Just a clear way to understand the damage, repair it, and move forward.

A reset begins with the numbers, not judgment. Photo by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels.

First, find out what kind of expensive month you had

Expensive months usually come from three places. Life happened: a medical bill, broken appliance, or family responsibility. You chose something meaningful: a celebration, trip, or gift. Or spending drifted through convenience, subscriptions, and small purchases.

Most months are a mixture. Do not ask whether you were good or bad. Ask what is finished, what may return, and what needs repair.

Find your recovery gap: Add new debt to savings you used and want to rebuild. If you put 150 on a credit card and took 300 from savings, the gap is 450. Now it has a name, size, and finish line.

The four-step recovery reset

Once the gap has a number, give recovery an order. You do not need to fix it overnight.

Figure 1: Review, pause, repair, and prepare - a simple path back to control.

1. Review the month, not your character

Open your bank, credit card, and payment apps. Group each expense as essential, one-off, or flexible. Then ask what is finished and what may return. A completed repair needs recovery. An unwanted subscription needs a decision. An annual bill needs preparation.

2. Pause the leak, but protect your life

For seven days, pause low-value spending: delivery when food is at home, forgotten subscriptions, and purchases that can wait. Protect essentials and required debt payments. Keep one small planned joy. A reset should create room, not resentment.

3. Choose a recovery pace you can actually keep

Divide the gap across realistic pay cycles. A gap of 450 could mean 150 over three paydays. If that forces you to use a credit card or borrow for groceries or transport, use more paydays. Schedule the transfer for payday. A steady recovery beats a heroic week followed by another shortfall.

4. Build one buffer for the expense most likely to return

Many expenses are irregular, not unexpected. Birthdays, renewals, school costs, repairs, and medical needs return. Choose the one most likely to create pressure and start a sinking fund. A cost of 600 in six months means 100 a month. If needed, begin with 20 and increase it later.

What not to do after an expensive month

Avoid three traps: Do not empty your account to feel caught up. Do not move pressure into new debt without knowing the cost and repayment plan. And do not pretend the month never happened. Responsibility is returning sooner, with better information.

Your 15-minute money reset

Set a timer. You are not building a perfect budget. Leave the next 15 minutes with a number, a pace, and a date.

Write it down: My gap is ________. I will redirect ________ per pay cycle for ________ cycles. My target date is ________. My next buffer is ________, starting with ________ per month.

The TLJ question for the community

What expense keeps catching you off guard even though it returns? Name the category, then choose the smallest monthly buffer that would make next time easier. That is where preparedness begins.

One expensive month does not erase the journey

Financial progress is not built from perfect months. It is built from correction: notice, adjust, and prepare. An expensive month can slow you down. It does not decide where you are going.

Remember this: do not try to fix the shame. Fix the number. Give it a plan, a pace, and a date.

Thank you, and until the next time,
The TLJ Community

There is a certain comfort in having a target in front of you: a debt to pay off, a car to maintain or the next promotion to pursue. These goals keep us moving. But once life becomes more financially stable, another challenge appears. How do we stay motivated to achieve more and use that progress to create a bigger impact?

I found an answer that works for me: giving back. That is why I included this principle as the final step in our journey toward Financial Equilibrium.

Welcome back to The Learning Journey, or TLJ, a community built around giving people a more structured way to make informed financial decisions.

In this article, I want to return to our 7-step approach toward Financial Equilibrium and focus on the last one: Step 7 – Give Back. This is a special article because financial literacy rarely brings to mind the power of giving—or the impact it can have on our lives. At TLJ, we want to show you why this step matters. So, let’s dive in.

If you are new and would like to explore the journey from the beginning, you can find the previous six steps in our library.

How Giving Can Give Back

When I first heard Denzel Washington say, “The most selfish thing you can do in this world is help someone else,” I did not fully understand it. How could giving to another person end up giving something back to me?

A few years ago, I decided to find out for myself. I began setting aside a small percentage of my salary for people and initiatives I believed in. At first, I did not notice much difference in my own life. Everything still felt much the same, and life still felt mostly centred around me.

Over time, though, something shifted. Supporting something beyond myself gave me a stronger sense of purpose than I expected. It was energising to know that my help could contribute to someone else’s progress.

That was when I began to understand what Denzel meant. Giving did not just help someone else. It also brought more satisfaction, meaning and purpose into my own life. In the end, helping others was also helping me.

Giving, Connection and A Longer Life

Maybe you have already supported others and did not feel an immediate emotional change. That can happen. Giving is not a transaction, and its value is not measured only by how good it makes us feel.

In 2023, Netflix released a documentary series called Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones. It follows five communities where people live extraordinarily long and vibrant lives. The lesson is not one secret or an extreme health hack, but a way of living shaped by purpose, natural movement, simple food, strong relationships and lower stress.

In Okinawa, one tradition connected to this sense of community is the moai: a lifelong social group whose members support one another emotionally, socially and, when needed, financially. There is also the Okinawan principle of yuimaru, a spirit of mutual help and reciprocity.

Additionally, This reflects the Japanese concept of Giri (義理), --- a sense of duty and gratitude that encourages us to give back to those who have supported us.

Watching these stories made me reflect on giving in a different way. Giving cannot promise us a longer life; and one can only hope.But purpose, connection and the feeling that we matter to others can help us build a fuller one.

Three ways to give back

1. Share a percentage of your income

Earlier this week, I joined a management team event in Manly, one of Sydney’s most iconic beach suburbs. During a walk, a colleague told me about a close friend who had been involved with Effective Altruism for several years.

I had never heard the term before, so I asked him to explain it. In simple terms, Effective Altruism is a philosophy and movement that uses evidence and reason to find ways of doing the most good with limited time, money and resources.

As he spoke, I could not stop thinking about TLJ and, more specifically, Step 7 – Give Back.

The message was clear: giving is not only about how much you give, but how intentionally you give. Choose a percentage of your income that you can sustain, however small, and direct it to a person or organisation that can turn it into meaningful impact. The percentage is not the point. The habit and the intention are.

2. Share your knowledge

Money is one way to give, but it is not the only way.

Everyone knows something that could help someone else. It may be cooking, acting, navigating a career, managing a budget or simply teaching a skill you once struggled to learn. What feels ordinary to you may be exactly what another person needs.

Start small. Help a colleague prepare for an interview. Teach a younger relative how to budget. Share one lesson that took you years to learn. Knowledge becomes more valuable when it moves.

3. Share your time

Over time, I have learned that being present when someone needs you can be more powerful than any financial support.

If you are at the beginning of your journey and cannot yet give financially, or have not found the skill you want to teach, this step is still for you. Listen to a friend who is struggling. Sit with someone who feels alone. Offer your attention without trying to fix everything.

Time is one of the few things we can never earn back. Giving a part of it tells another person something simple but important: you matter enough for me to be here.

Give in the way you can

The final step toward Financial Equilibrium is not about giving away what you cannot afford. It is about recognising that financial stability is not the end of the journey. It gives us the freedom to make someone else’s journey a little lighter.

So the next time you think about giving back, do not begin by asking whether you have enough. Ask what you can share today: a small percentage, something you know or an hour of your time.

That is what Denzel’s words finally came to mean to me: helping someone else can change their life, even in a small way. Somewhere along the way, it changes ours too.

Thank you, and until next time,
The TLJ Community

Welcome back to The Learning Journey, a community built to help people make structured, calmer, and more informed financial decisions.

Most of the time, when we talk about financial literacy, we talk about the visible parts: budgets, savings, investments, debt, insurance, and numbers on a spreadsheet. These matter. They give us structure. They help us understand where our money goes and what our future may look like.

But there is another part of financial literacy that is less often discussed, even though it affects our daily lives just as much. It is the ability to talk about money with the people around us.

Because money is rarely just money.

A money conversation does not have to start perfectly. It only has to start honestly.

Sometimes it is love. Sometimes it is guilt. Sometimes it is pride, fear, responsibility, pressure, or the quiet desire not to disappoint anyone.

A simple invitation like “Do you want to join us for dinner?” can become difficult when the place is beyond your budget. A family request for help can feel heavy when you are also trying to build your own stability. A partner asking “Who pays for what?” can reveal expectations that were never said out loud.

In those moments, the issue is not only the amount of money involved. It is the meaning attached to it. Saying no may feel selfish. Asking for clarity may feel uncomfortable. Setting a limit may feel like letting someone down.

That is why many of us avoid the conversation. We would rather adjust silently. We would rather say yes and struggle later. We would rather pretend everything is fine than admit that something has started to feel financially heavy.

But silence does not make money problems disappear. It only moves them somewhere quieter, where they usually become resentment, anxiety, or confusion.

Financial literacy is not only personal. It is relational.

A person can understand budgeting but still feel unable to tell a friend that a plan is too expensive. Someone can know how to save but still feel guilty setting boundaries with family. A couple can have stable income but still fight because they never learned how to speak openly about spending, debt, support, and priorities.

This is why the money conversation matters. It is not about being cold or selfish. It is not about reducing relationships into transactions. It is about creating enough honesty so that care does not turn into resentment.

When money is not discussed clearly, people start guessing. One person assumes the other is careless. Another assumes they are being controlled. Someone may feel used. Someone may feel unsupported. Most of the time, the problem is not only the money. It is the story people silently attach to it.

So how do we make the conversation easier?

1. Start with purpose, not accusation

Money talks go wrong when they begin like a trial: “You always spend too much.” “You never help.” “You do not understand how hard this is.” Even when the concern is valid, the other person may immediately feel attacked.

A better starting point is purpose. Try saying, “I want us to understand this better because I do not want money to become a source of stress between us.” Or, “I want to help, but I also need to be honest about what I can manage.” This changes the tone from blame to clarity.

2. Name the number without making it dramatic

Numbers are not insults. They are information. Saying “I can contribute this amount this month” is clearer than saying “I will see what I can do.” Saying “This plan is outside my budget right now” is kinder than agreeing first and feeling resentful later.

The goal is not to make every conversation perfectly comfortable. The goal is to make it honest enough that people do not have to guess.

3. Separate help from rescue

Helping someone is good. Supporting family is meaningful. Being generous matters. But help becomes unhealthy when it quietly damages your own stability.

A useful question is: “Can I give this without creating a problem I will later need someone else to solve?” If the answer is no, the support may need limits. Boundaries do not cancel care. They protect it from becoming bitterness.

4. Agree on one next action

Not every money conversation needs to solve everything at once. Sometimes the next step is simply listing shared expenses. Sometimes it is agreeing who pays for what. Sometimes it is setting a monthly limit for financial help. Sometimes it is deciding to revisit the topic after payday.

Small agreements matter because they turn anxiety into movement.

Words you can borrow

If the conversation feels hard to start, borrow one of these lines:

• “I want to be honest without making this feel like a fight.”

• “I care about this, but I need to say what I can realistically manage.”

• “That plan is outside my budget right now, but I still want to join in a way I can afford.”

• “Can we talk about what feels fair for both of us?”

• “I want to help, but I cannot give in a way that makes me unstable too.”

These sentences are simple, but they do something important. They make the conversation less about winning and more about understanding.

A small kind of courage

In the end, financial literacy is not only about knowing the right formula. It is also about having the courage to be clear. It is being able to say yes with peace, no with kindness, and “let us talk about this” before silence becomes too heavy.

Money will always touch the parts of life we care about most: our homes, relationships, choices, and future. The hope is not that we remove all discomfort from the topic. The hope is that we learn to speak about it with enough ease and honesty.

Because sometimes, the most practical financial decision is not another spreadsheet.

Sometimes, it is the conversation we finally stop avoiding.

Thank you, and until the next time,

The TLJ community

So the question I get often is very simple: “Carlo, how much should I spend each month?”

The honest answer is that it depends. Everyone has a different income, a different city, a different family situation and a different idea of what a good life looks like. However, having a simple reference point can make the decision much easier.

Welcome back to The Learning Journey, or TLJ, a community built around giving people a more structured way to make informed financial decisions.

In this article, I want to go back to our 7-step approach toward Financial Equilibrium, specifically to Step 6 – Financial Equilibrium. As you can imagine, this is a special article because TLJ’s ambition is to get you to this step, so let’s dive in.

If you are new and interested to go back and look into the previous articles, you can check the previous five steps in our library.

First of all, what is Financial Equilibrium?

Speaking with friends about money, or during the workshops that I held over the last year, the expectation is always the same: to be stress-free with money, you need to have money in the first place.

Do not get me wrong, it is helpful, but my years of reading, talking and teaching about money have taught me something different. People are actually less interested in having a lot of money and the responsibility that comes with it, and more interested in a life without financial concerns.

In simple terms, Financial Equilibrium is the point where your money supports your life instead of constantly creating pressure in it.

But, how can you live such a life?

To do so, I believe there are three key figures you need to focus on:

• 30% for housing costs;

• 15% for savings & investments;

• 55% for anything else.

Figure 1: The three key figures behind Financial Equilibrium.

For example, if your monthly income is $3,000, the 30/15/55 Rule would mean around $900 for housing costs, $450 for saving and investing, and $1,650 for everything else. It is not a law. It is a compass.

30% for Housing Costs: Protect Your Home

No matter if you buy or rent, you need to be very careful and look closely at this number. Recently I was having a conversation with a friend who works in the financial sector here in Sydney, and he told me something very interesting: “Many people in Australia are asset rich, but cash poor.” What does it mean?

It simply means that people buy an expensive house, allocate a large percentage of their income to it, and, to feel good, justify it as an investment. As a consequence, many end up living paycheque to paycheque, having the feeling that they are constantly under pressure.

Do not get me wrong, I do believe that everyone should aim to own a house because ownership is a key long-term success factor, and leveraging the financial sector to buy assets is a smart financial decision; to put it simply, getting a mortgage. However, it needs to be done in the right way, because this can impact your ability to live a stress-free life over the next decade or more.

Talking with successful people, reading books and hearing specialists on this topic, I ended up with a simple conclusion: spending 30% of your monthly income on a mortgage repayment or rent is a good number that allows you to do much more with money.

Of course, 30% is not a rule written in stone. It is a reference point. If you are slightly above it, do not panic, but do pay attention because the more your house takes, the less freedom the rest of your budget has.

15% for Saving & Investing: Protect Your Future

In the previous article I talked about why starting investing early makes the difference, however being consistent in the long term is a key differentiator.

This is why thinking about Saving & Investing when planning your monthly budget is important, however it should not limit your ability to live a good life today.

For this reason, a sensible amount that would allow you to live a good life today while benefiting from long term compound interest is, in my opinion, 15% of your monthly income.

“What happens if one month an unexpected expense pops up and I can’t do so?”, I get this question often, and my answer is easy – Nothing.

Life happens and it is interesting for this reason, but this should not stop us from planning for a better future. Missing one month does not erase the journey. What matters is coming back to the habit as soon as life allows you to.

55% for Anything Else: Protect Your Life Today

Everyone is different, some of us like eating out, some prefer travelling, and others love fancy things. As Ramit Sethi says, “A Rich Life means you can spend extravagantly on the things you love, if you cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t”.

So, I am not here to suggest spending this X% on this, and Y% on that, but to use the remaining 55% of your income to live the life you want to live, being aware that living a nice life today should not impact your ability to live a good life tomorrow, and vice versa.

This bucket can include food, transport, bills, health, family, learning, travel, giving, and the small joys that make life feel like yours. The important thing is not to spend carelessly, but to spend with awareness.

If you imagine your income as a set of baskets, the decision becomes much easier: the goal is simply to know what each part is meant to do.

Figure 2: Deciding what basket to put the money in.

Remember, don’t be afraid of these figures

You might ask yourself now, “How can I get to these numbers?” This is a journey, so do not expect to make a sudden change, but awareness is the first step.

What if your numbers do not fit yet?

Then start with the numbers you have. If housing is above 30%, treat it as a signal, not a failure. If 15% feels too high today, start with 1%, 3% or 5%. If your income changes every month, use an average month. Direction matters more than perfection.

Financial Equilibrium is not about looking rich. It is about giving your money a place, a purpose and a direction, so money stops interrupting your life and starts supporting it.

In the next articles, I will give more concrete examples of what Financial Equilibrium could look like in everyday life.

Thank you, and until the next time,

CT

I know, it has been a month since the previous article. Sometimes life gets busy, but I would like to thank some of you for reaching out and asking when the next article was going to be published. It means a lot to me.

Moreover, TLJ this month has surpassed the 100-subscriber milestone, reaching people across five countries: the Philippines, the Netherlands, Italy, the USA, and Malawi. Thank you for being part of this community.

As I said, life can get busy at times, and this time it has been busy for me for two main reasons. First, I have moved to Sydney, where I will spend a few months for work. Second, the beginning of May became a historical moment for TLJ, because we had the biggest free workshop in our story, with 250 people joining online from all over the Philippines.

Sydney, where this chapter of TLJ is being written from

In this article, instead of focusing again on the steps towards Financial Equilibrium or another set of budgeting tips, I would like to deep dive into the key learning that came out from the latest workshop.

Mindset, Money, and Machines

The workshop was called Mindset, Money, and Machines: Financial Literacy and Cybersecurity in the Age of AI, held with a Philippine public-sector partner focused on information and communications technology. It was free, online, and open to people who wanted to understand something very practical: how do we make better financial decisions in a world where money is increasingly digital?

That question matters because financial literacy today is no longer only about saving, budgeting, or investing. It is also about protecting yourself from scams, understanding the risks that come with digital tools, and building habits that can survive both human temptation and technological change.

What made the session meaningful was not only the number of attendees, over 250 people. It was the response afterwards. The feedback showed that people were not just listening; they were taking the topic seriously. Across the evaluation responses, the webinar received an average rating of 4.776 out of 5, with 98.3% of scored responses falling within the 4 to 5 range. That is encouraging, not because ratings are the goal, but because it tells us the topic connected with people.

A look at the webinar:

Snapshots from the Mindset, Money, and Machines webinar.

For me, the most important part is not to say, “we ran a webinar and people liked it.” The better question is: what can we learn from the fact that people showed up, stayed, listened, and asked for more?

Three things we learned

1. Financial literacy lands best when it feels usable, not intimidating.

One of the strongest lessons from the workshop is that people are not looking for finance to sound impressive. They are looking for finance to finally feel approachable.

Most people already know the usual advice: save, budget, invest, avoid bad debt, and be careful online. The gap is not always knowledge. Often, the gap is confidence. It is the confidence to open the app, review the numbers, ask the question, make the first plan, and not feel ashamed for starting small.

That is where TLJ can be powerful. We do not need to make money conversations heavier than they already are. We need to make them clearer, calmer, and easier to act on. When people leave a session thinking, “I can actually do this,” that is when learning starts becoming action.

2. Money education now has to include digital protection.

The “machines” part of the workshop mattered because money no longer lives only in wallets, banks, or spreadsheets. It moves through phones, apps, links, passwords, platforms, messages, and increasingly, AI-powered tools.

That changes the responsibility of financial education. It is no longer enough to teach people how to manage money wisely. We also have to teach them how to protect it. A good financial habit today needs a good digital safety habit beside it.

The lesson is simple but important: before people chase returns, they should know how to recognize risk. Before they click, send, invest, or trust, they should know how to pause. In the age of AI and digital finance, protection is not a side topic. It is part of financial maturity.

3. The real measure of a workshop is what people do after it ends.

The best feedback was not just that people enjoyed the session. It was that they wanted more: more investing learnings and discussions, more real examples, more practical exercises, more scenarios, and more time to ask questions.

That tells us something important. People want clear, simple answers: How do I start? What should I check first? What mistake should I avoid? What one action can I take this week?

For TLJ, that is the next frontier: turning attention into action. Not overwhelming people with everything they could do, but helping them choose the next clear step. Because financial confidence is rarely built in one big moment. It is built through small decisions that people understand well enough to repeat.

Where TLJ goes from here

This workshop reminded me why TLJ exists in the first place. It is not only to publish articles or explain finance concepts. It is to make financial decisions feel less intimidating and more human.

If there is one sentence that captures the day, it is this: people are ready to learn, but they learn best when the lesson feels close enough to their real life to use.

That means future sessions should remain simple, practical, and globally relatable. Wherever someone is learning from, the core questions are often the same: how do I manage what comes in, protect what I have, avoid costly mistakes, and make better decisions with the tools in front of me?

The workshop was free, 250 people joined, and the feedback was strong. But beyond the numbers, what stayed with me was the simple fact that people made time to talk about money in a way that felt clear, practical, and human. For a few hours, a topic that is often made intimidating became something people could ask about, reflect on, and begin to act on.

And maybe that is where meaningful financial education begins: not with pretending that money is easy, but with showing people that it can be learned, protected, and improved one clear step at a time.

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

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Last year, I met a very smart young gentleman in Manila. Over lunch, I told him about my ambition to build a community focused on financial literacy. I still remember the question he asked me because it took me straight back to my own early career days, when I believed investing was only for rich people too.

That is exactly the myth I want to challenge in this new piece from TLJ’s series on financial equilibrium, through another story about our friend Claudio.

Claudio’s strategy: Small but consistent investments

Having only recently entered the job market, Claudio cannot invest a large part of his paycheck. But as a TLJ subscriber, he is eager to get started, so he begins with a small amount and kicks off his investment journey.

Over time, he could have increased his contributions. Instead, he decides that life comes with other priorities too, so even as his salary grows, he keeps investing the same fixed amount.

This time, Claudio is not alone. Alongside him is his uncle, George.

George’s strategy: Larger but shorter investments

George learned about investments through his nephew, Claudio, so he starts later in life.

Having been in the workforce longer, George can invest more than Claudio, and he does. But he has a shorter time horizon, because his goal is to stop working earlier and spend more time with family later in life.

Small but consistent VS Larger but shorter

Assuming that both George and Claudio earn the same investment return, and that the total amount invested is exactly the same, Who ends up with a stronger financial position ?

Let’s look at the numbers:

Claudio and his uncle, George, have invested the same total amount, 36,000 $, and the marked gave both of them the same 7% return. Yet Claudio clearly came out ahead.

Why? The power of time.

Start early, because small but consistent investments will most likely outperform larger but shorter ones over time.

Exercise section:

What if you invested that small amount you have been thinking about? How much could it grow over the long run?

Try it with the investment calculator below, and use the visual guide to see how it works.

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

Too strict. Too clean. Too optimistic. They assume you will become a different person the moment the month begins. No coffee. No random Grab when traffic is unbearable. No Friday dinner because you “should be disciplined.” Then real life happens, the budget breaks by week two, and suddenly budgeting feels like failure with a calculator.

That is the wrong way to look at it.

A good budget should not feel like a cage. It should feel like relief. It should tell you what you can spend, what you need to protect, and how much freedom you actually have.

At TLJ we know it, that is why we want to share three tips to help you change the way you look at budgeting.

The first fix is simple: budget for your real life, not your ideal life.

If you are a young professional in Manila who buys coffee three times a week and orders takeout when work runs late, put that in the budget. If you are living in Madrid or Amsterdam and you know weekends usually mean one lunch out, transit, and a little overspending at the market, put that in too. The problem is not that these things exist. The problem is pretending they do not.

A budget breaks faster when it is built on unrealistic denial.

Second, stop using categories that sound like a lecture.

“Miscellaneous” tells you nothing. “Leisure” sounds like a reward you have to earn. Give your money clearer jobs. Rent & Bills. Savings. Daily life. Fun money. Family support. Travel. Tennis lessons. A category becomes easier to follow when it sounds like real life.

For example, imagine someone earning an average salary in a London. Rent or family contribution takes a chunk. Commute takes another. Phone bill. Groceries. Maybe a streaming subscription. Maybe Sunday coffee with friends. If that person only budgets for bills and savings, the rest of the month becomes a mystery. But if they deliberately set aside, a fixed amount for guilt-free spending, that money can be used without the usual inner courtroom drama. The point is not to spend carelessly. The point is to stop treating every enjoyable expense as a moral failure.

Third, save before you improvise.

A lot of people say they will save whatever is left at the end of the month. Usually, nothing is left.

A better system is to move savings first, even if the amount is modest. Then build the rest of the budget around what remains. This works not because it is dramatic, but because it removes the need to be heroic later.

Finally, leave room for being human.

Some months are expensive for reasons you did not choose. Someone gets sick. A trip comes up. You eat out more because life is heavy, and convenience wins. A budget that cannot survive an imperfect month is not a good budget, it is simply a fantasy.

Budgeting does not have to feel like punishment. It can feel like self-respect. Not because it makes life smaller, but because it gives your money direction before life starts pulling at it from all sides.

That, in the end, is what a good budget does. It does not shame you for living. It simply makes sure your money can keep up with the life you are already trying to build.

Thank you, and until the next time,

CT

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In this article, I want to go back to our 7-step approach toward Financial Equilibrium, specifically to Step n.5 – Start Investing. Considering the complexity of this topic, I have split it into two articles: this one focuses on what investing is, what it is not, and a few examples; the next will continue our series, “The stories of Claudio”, through a real-life story.

The three things we need to look at when identifying an investment

In the first of these two articles, I want to focus on a recurring misconception: many things are called investments, even when they are not.

These days, it looks like everything is an investment: the fancy watch that your friend wears, the old car that your uncle bought 15 years ago, or even Pokémon cards.

It is true that some of these items have gone up in value, but the fact that an object is becoming more expensive does not automatically turn it into an investment.

That is why, to understand whether something, whatever it is, should be called an investment, I always go back to three variables:

1) Purpose 2) Level of Risk 3) Time horizon

· Purpose: Am I buying this asset because I want to make some money quickly, or because I believe it can create value over time?

· Level of Risk: How much risk am I actually taking on, and do I understand the downside well enough to live with it?

· Time horizon: How long am I willing to hold this asset before selling, and am I willing to let time do its work?

These variables will help you understand if you are referring to an investment or a speculative purchase.

What investing is NOT

To make a clear distinction between investing and speculating, I will use a stock as an example, but be aware that assets could be different things, like a rental property, a piece of land, or a small shop that you lease out.

What people often miss is something more important: the failure to distinguish between an investment asset and a speculative position.

To understand what is speculating, let me ask you a question: Do you remember what happened to GameStop between 2020 and 2021? If not, it’s worth looking at it.

GameStop is one of the world’s largest retail gaming and trade-in destination for Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and other consoles. In 2020, a story was triggered on Reddit about the idea that GameStop could pivot from a mall‑based retailer into a more Amazon‑style e‑commerce and technology business.

After it was disclosed that a big investor had acquired a stake in the company in August 2020, the value of the company started rising. However, the situation culminated in January 2021, when speculators bet that the company’s value would decrease significantly, in technical terms by shorting the stock.

For many participants of such trades, the question was no longer whether the underlying business was worth the price. The question became whether they could get in, make some money, and exit the market in time.

In summary, if the goal is chasing quick gains, the level of risk is high, and the time horizon is short, then it is speculation.

So when am I actually investing?

Investing can look similar to speculating, in particular when the same asset is used as a reference, but what makes the difference is the behaviour, the purpose and the time horizon.

Two people could indeed buy the same asset but still be doing very different things.

In the graph above, the S&P 500 is used as an example of an index that tracks the largest U.S. public companies. As you can see from the graph, even investments go through drawdowns.

Investing involves being exposed to volatility. An investor accepts that volatility as part of a long‑term strategy, rather than treating every price move as a call to react.

Here is a practical exercise to put this into practice:

Now that you know what an investment is, challenge yourself:

Think about the investment you always had in mind, and ask yourself the same three questions:

· Am I doing this to make quick money, or to build value over the long term?

· What is the level of risk I am exposing myself to, and would I be able to live with it?

· Am I willing to hold this investment long enough for time to do its work?

If the answer to any of these questions points toward quick gains and high risk, you’re more in speculation territory than investing. And there is value in naming that honestly, before a bet gets mistaken for a strategy.

In the next articles, we will continue the series “The stories of Claudio” and explore what the impact of starting investing in different stage of life can look like.

Thank you, and until the next time,

CT

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With this article I want to take a break from the TLJ steps towards financial equilibrium and discuss how fixing a small leak becomes key to reaching bigger goals, as introduced in the previous article. I know you were looking forward to Step 5 - Start investing: rest assured, it will come soon.

Back to the one leak, there’s something seductive about a new financial goal. It starts with a clean number, in the new year, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a fresh declaration – a renewed sense of self.

More often than not, we find ourselves saying:

“I’m going to save aggressively.”
“I’m finally going to start investing.”
“I’m going to double my income.”

It feels so powerful to decide and get a hold of your fate.

But ambition has a strange way of distracting us. While we’re busy staring at the horizon, something smaller is quietly slowing us down. I’ve noticed this pattern — in myself, in friends, in people who swear that this is their year.

They don’t fail because the goal was unrealistic, or because the dream was beyond human comprehension. They stall because something small and subtle was quietly draining them the entire time.

A leak.

Not dramatic enough to panic over. Not painful enough to force change. Just consistent enough to sabotage progress.

A truth often overlooked, is that you cannot build momentum on top of a leak.

You just can’t.

If you earn €2,800 a month in Amsterdam or ₱35,000 in Manila, the math usually isn’t the problem. It’s rarely the math. It’s the €120 here, the ₱3,000 there—the subscription you forgot about, the stress weekend that wipes out the discipline you kept all week, the quiet upgrades that follow a salary increase. None of it feels serious in the moment. Each expense has its excuse. Each one feels small.

But progress rarely collapses in one dramatic mistake.

It erodes in fragments. A little here, a little there, until the direction you were certain about begins to feel strangely distant. And when people finally stop to look at their accounts, the most honest response is often the simplest one: “I don’t know where it went.”

Here’s what I’ve learned after watching this pattern play out again and again. Before you declare your financial theme for the year—before you decide this is your Stability Year, your Capital Build Year, your Income Upgrade Year—start with something far less exciting.

Fix one leak. Not your entire life. Just one leak. But how?

Look at your last 30 days and trace where the money actually went. Somewhere between the €120 in Amsterdam or the ₱3,000 in Manila, there’s usually a moment where the spending wasn’t intentional. Not joy, not necessity, just impulse quietly passing through.

That’s the leak.

And fixing it does more than return a small amount of money. Yes, the extra €120 matters. Yes, the ₱3,000 recovered helps. But something else changes when you close that gap. The feeling that your finances are slipping through your hands starts to disappear. In its place comes something steadier: the sense that you’re finally directing the flow instead of reacting to it. And that small act—fixing one leak—is often where real progress begins.

People love to talk about discipline as if it’s some heroic personality trait. As if progress belongs only to the unusually strong. But in reality, it’s rarely that dramatic. More often, discipline is calm alignment between what you say you want and what you actually do.

When the way you spend aligns with the direction you say you care about, progress stops feeling heavy. When it doesn’t, even the most inspiring goals begin to drain you. And that’s when people conclude the dream was too ambitious. In truth, the dream was never the problem—the ground beneath it was.

You do not need to start big; you need to start with a leak.

Which brings us back to the quieter work. Not a bigger declaration, not another promise about the year ahead, but a smaller decision that actually changes the direction of the boat. Fix the leak. The €120 in Amsterdam. The ₱3,000 in Manila. The expense you keep excusing because it feels harmless on its own. Close it, and something shifts. Not just in the numbers, but in the way you think about how you behave. You stop staring at the horizon wondering why progress feels distant, and start moving toward it with steadier hands.

And that’s the part ambition often forgets. Ambition is loud. It thrives on big goals and bold declarations. Stability, however, is quiet. It’s built in the unnoticed moments when you decide the boat must stay afloat before it moves forward. So before the next goal, before the next promise, start there.

Fix one leak — patch the hull, own the wheel, and watch the life you’ve dreamed become real.

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

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To kick off 2026, I covered the third step of the TLJ approach, Create a safety net, a step that focuses on how to prepare for a tough day, or as I call it a rainy day. In summary:

1. Why we need a safety net to face a rainy day;

2. A one-size-fits-all safety net does not exist;

3. How the safety net matrix helps you build one that fits your needs.

Now that you know the first three steps, what can you do next? To guide myself, I have defined 7 steps toward financial equilibrium, see below. Let’s deep-dive on Step 4 — Plan for your goals:

We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan

Denzel Washington ‘‘DW” has always been one of the actors that I liked the most, not only for his ability to play a character or for his charisma, but for his impact outside the big screen. Maybe you know, or maybe you don’t, but Chadwick Boseman, the actor that played Black Panther, was actually selected by a programme run by DW to support young Africans to access a world otherwise not reachable.

In 2011, DW gave a speech at the University of Pennsylvania, that still today I often listen to — link. One of the key messages of his talk is “We don’t plan to fail, we fail to plan” and I have always been thinking how this simple message becomes even more powerful when linked to numbers.

That is why I decided to embed this simple but powerful concept in the TLJ approach towards financial equilibrium, specifically in step 4 — Plan for your goals.

The benefit of planning in advance

For many of us, the second most expensive purchase is a car. Because it’s so costly, many people feel planning for it is pointless. Indeed in Germany, a pillar of Europe’s automotive sector, 70% of new vehicles are financed (loans & leasing).

Meet Claudio

Meet Claudio, a 28-year-old man who wants to buy a car—even though he doesn't really need one. His budget: €15.000.

Claudio goes to a second-hand dealer, let’s see what he finds:

Claudio finds a VW Polo listed at €15.000 with an 8% interest rate over five years. Buying it would cost him € 305 a month, € 18.300 in total.

But what if he saved for it?

After doing the math, Claudio finds out that he can accumulate € 15.000 saving € 236 on a monthly basis and allocating it to a savings account that pays him back 2.5% a year — let’s look at the difference.

Claudio saves €4,140—28% of the car’s value—and buys the same vehicle with one simple skill: Patience.

We will see in the next article how this money saved by being patient could create long‑term wealth, but it could also be used for that dream vacation in France with his girlfriend, because being smart with money should enhance life, not diminish joy.

Why being patient makes the difference and how to apply it with money

Saving 4.140 € on a car purchase could sound a lot for some of you, but for some others could very well not. The amount is actually not that important, but the mindset is very much.

If you take this approach, and you multiply it for different areas of your life, from buying a phone, paying for a holiday, or planning your wedding, you will feel the difference it makes.

What can you then do?

Next time you think about financing a purchase, just do the maths and understand how much the item will really cost you.

If you believe that this additional cost is justified by your need, then go for it. If it’s not, then plan for it.

I'm not here to dictate your choices—just to equip you with the math to make informed ones.

Bonus section: How to calculate the real cost of your loans

If you are thinking about buying something new using a loan, or you have had a loan for some time, and you would like to understand how much this loan cost you, I’ve put together a quick guide below.

You can adjust the amount, rate, and term to match your own loan and see the true monthly cost and total interest.The calculator shown is available using this link.

Now you know the fourth step. If you want to understand more about ‘Start investing’, the fifth step toward financial equilibrium, stick around and subscribe!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

To close 2025, in the previous article, I described the second step of the TLJ approach, Attack Debt, a step that focuses on the different categories of debt and how to tackle them. In summary:

1. The three categories of debt — High, medium and low interest debt;

2. In today’s society, if you are struggling with credit card debt, you are not alone — the US case;

3. Before thinking about investing, start attacking your highest interest debt — focus on what you can control first.

Now that you know the first two steps, what can you do next? To guide myself, I have defined 7 steps, see below. Now, together, I will deep-dive with you on Step 3 — Create a safety net:

Why I believe a safety net is needed, but first, what is it?

In my second article, check it out here, I explained the three key principles behind the approach I created, which has helped me make informed financial decisions over the years — and that I now call The TLJ Approach toward Financial equilibrium. The first of these three principles is: Preparing for a rainy day.

First, what is a rainy day? It is one of those days that you wish it did not exist, for example, having your laptop stolen one month before graduation and having to find the money to buy a new one, or being called to a meeting room and being told your job will be made redundant.

These days are not good days, but they are a reality. Even if we do not want to, we need to prepare for them — and that is exactly why I believe a safety net is needed.

A one-size-fits-all safety net does not exist

A significant percentage of people live paycheck to paycheck and are not ready to face a rainy day if it were to come. I wrote about this in this article, where I showed that roughly one out of two people in the EU, one out of three in the US, and two out of three in the Philippines live paycheck to paycheck. Because of this, I want to tell you more about how I built a safety net for a rainy day.

Over the years, I have been reading and listening to many financial experts talking about the concept of an emergency account, or as I call it, safety net.

However, the majority had a similar suggestion: three to six months of living expenses saved.

Is that all?

This is a good rule of thumb, and using it certainly doesn’t hurt. But in my opinion, the safety net should be linked to two key factors:

1. Age

2. Family composition

Why are age and family important?

In 2026, age is becoming a factor more than ever in the workplace. Big global organizations have been reorganising at a faster rate in the last decade due to new technology solutions, and they are becoming flatter than before. Finding a job for a more experienced employee is becoming harder rather than easier, as a recent Forbes article explains in “In 2026 Age Bias Will Become Impossible For Employers To Ignore” — see the graph below:

Source: Bureau of labor statistics 2024 data: actuals; 2026: forecast

And then there is family — an undeniable responsibility.

Taking care of a spouse/partner and/or kids brings significant financial implications that cannot be overlooked, and it is key to take this into account.

The Safety Net Matrix: A tool to guide the definition of your safety net

To take into account both age and family composition, I have developed a simple but impactful tool: The Safety Net Matrix — see below:

So, if you are a 45-year-old woman with two kids, keeping in your savings account nine to twelve months of necessary expenses would, in my opinion, put you in a position to face a tough rainy day if it were to come.

And if you are a 25-year-old man without a family, who has been working for two years, a savings account with four months of necessary expenses would put you in a good position if you were to experience a rainy day.

What can you do next?

I am aware that building such a savings account to face a potential future problem is not easy and might not sound logical. As humans, we tend to tackle problems when they arrive, not before. But that is the mindset I want you to reflect on, moving from Reactive to Proactive — sounds similar, but it is very different.

To start this journey, I suggest first understanding how much you spend a month on necessities.

Please be aware that I am not talking about holidays, going out with friends, dining out, but just necessities, because I am sure that if you were in challenging situation, you could cut them.

This exercise will make you realize how much money you would actually need if one day something went wrong.

P.S.: I promise — I really don't want things to go wrong for any of you.

Now you know the third step. If you want to understand more about the fourth step towards financial equilibrium and how to plan for your goals, stick around and subscribe!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

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Going back to business, in the previous article, I described the first step of the TLJ approach, Start small, a simple but challenging step to be financially ahead of most people, in summary:

1. Great results are born from small first steps — the Kobe Bryant example;

2. In today’s society, living paycheck to paycheck is a common phenomenon that impacts most people, no matter where they live — the Philippines, US and EU cases;

3. If you are consistently saving 5 to 10 % of your salary every month, you are already ahead of the average person;

But... once you have started, where should your focus be first? To guide myself, I have defined 7 steps, see below. Now, together, I will deep dive with you on step 2 - Attack debts:

Understanding what debt is and different types of debts

To simply put it, debt is an obligation of one party, the debtor, to pay money borrowed from another party, the creditor, including an interest agreed between the parties.

But is all debt the same? In my opinion, it’s not, and that is why I define three categories of debts - see below:

• High interest debts;

• Medium interest debts;

• Low interest debts.

High interest debts are debts that carry an interest rate of 15% or above. An easy example is credit card debt, which can indeed exceed 15%; however, in The Netherlands as of 2024 a legal maximum of 15% interest has been applied to credit cards. Interesting to see that in the US, according to the Federal Reserve statistics, credit cards have an average rate of about 21.4% across all accounts.

Medium interest debts carry an interest rate between 5% to 15%, these are usually utilised to buy items that have a residual value, decreasing the risk of the debt itself compared to the high interest debts. An example that can resonate with many of you: a car loan. I was having some fun using the configurator of Audi Italy to design a car that I quite like, Audi A3, and the interest rate to buy this car on a 4-years loan is, as of Dec 2025, 9.9% including loan fees.

And lastly, low interest debts, that carry an interest rate lower than 5%. This category includes mainly mortgages. As of Dec 2025, the interest rate to buy a house in The Netherlands is 4%. In the Philippines however the situation can be quite different, having an average interest rate for a mortgage between 7.125—8.5% for a 10–20‑year terms.

If you are struggling with credit card debt, you are not alone

Maybe you have some credit card debt, and you think you are the only one, however reality is quite different.

According to a mid-2025 analysis of CNBC+, one out of two Americans carries credit card debts each month, and to make matters worse, there has been a 46% increase in the overall credit card debt in the US between Q2 2020 to Q2 2025, going from $ 820B to $1.2T. Yes, $1.2 trillion, roughly half of Gross Domestic Product “GDP” of Italy.

source: Credit card debt reaches $1.21 trillion — in line with last year’s all-time high, NY Fed finds - CNBC

So, as you can see, you are not alone.

Where and how you could approach debt payment

Awareness is the first step to make improvements, but it is not the only step. Knowing means little without doing. That is why the second step of TLJ approach towards financial equilibrium focuses on attacking debts, keeping the interest rate you are paying at the center of the approach.

In essence, you need to attack high interest debts aggressively first, then medium interest ones, and continue to pay as agreed the remaining low interest debts.

In my workshop, I like to say, be like this dog, be aggressive when needed, but calm if not required.

Before closing this article, I want to share a frequently asked question from some friends and people that have attended my workshops.

“Carlo, I have some spare money to invest—where should I put it?”

Firstly, I do not give financial advice, hence you will not get from me any affirmation saying that a random stock will give you a specific return in one or two years’ time. Sorry.

Secondly, if I were in your shoes and had any high or medium interest debts, I’d get rid of them before thinking about potential money I could make if the market went well that year. As you can see, there are many hypotheses in this sentence.

P.S.: I will discuss with you what investing means and different strategies that people apply, so that you can understand better what you can do.

Now you know the second step. If you want to understand more about the third step towards financial equilibrium and how to create a safety net and be ready for a rainy day, stick around and subscribe!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

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In the previous article, I described the three principles behind the TLJ’s approach toward financial equilibrium, in summary:

1. Preparing for a rainy day;

2. Planning to achieve our goals;

3. Leveraging the power of time.

But... How do I position myself to stand by such principles in my everyday life? To provide myself guidance, I have defined 7 steps — see below:

So, let’s deep dive into the first step. A simple but challenging step.

As humans, I believe we have a strong tendency to compare ourselves with the top 1% as soon as we start doing something new.

If I look at my story, I started playing basketball when I was roughly 10 years old. I remember spending hours watching Kobe Bryant playing on YouTube, trying to understand how he moved, how he managed to find space against the defender and how he had such a consistent shot movement, no matter how he took that shot. Then I would go to the court and try to do the same things that Kobe did. And since, obviously, I wasn’t able to do such things, I would get annoyed and discouraged.

I would think: “If he can do it, why can I not do it?”

Kobe Bryant #8 of the Los Angeles Lakers jumps to shoot the ball at the Staples Center by Bleacherreport.com

Over time, however, I learned that to do what Kobe did, it took thousands and thousands of hours of practice, practice that I had just started. I find that the same concept can be applicable to mastering money management.

In today’s society, the exposure to the 1% becomes even harder to escape due to social media. Why? Because as soon as we open any social media that exists on Earth, we compare ourselves with the best. If we like watches, most likely the algorithm will start showing us a Rolex. If we like cars, most likely, a Porsche, and so on. I guess now you know my taste :)

The exposure to such content makes us believe that achieving extraordinary results or the ability to buy such iconic products is “easy”, however reality is quite different.

In business there is an interesting framework that organisations utilise to guide strategic planning, execution and management, and it’s called the Compass approach. The idea is to use the four cardinal directions North [Strategy], East [Structure], South [Processes, Systems and People] and West [Customers, Suppliers, and Brand] to align a company to consumers’ needs.

Why is this relevant to you? Because the first step of the compass approach is to identify where the company is now. If I translate this concept to this community, the point is to identify where the average person is today, from a financial perspective.

Let’s discover the financial reality for the average person today.

As I write, I live in The Philippines, a developing country economy that has been recognised the fastest-growing economy in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). However there is still a lot of room for improvements when we talk about financial literacy and how to people manage everyday expenses.

Two out of three Pilipino live paycheck to paycheck, and while low income compared to more developed economies is a factor, for the high percentage of individuals who live paycheck to paycheck, financial mismanagement represents a strong contributor.

Are Filipinos the only ones? No!

Let’s look at the biggest economy in the world as of 2025, the US. According to the latest deep dive by the Bank of America Institute published in November 2025, 1 out of 4 Americans live pay check to pay check.

And what about the geographical continent of Europe? It is hard to look at one single number to summarise this continent, that is why I want to focus on three locations where I lived myself: Italy, England (UK) and The Netherlands*.

*Multiple sources have been utilised to define the numbers for each country, however be aware that there is no single statistic that can summarise such phenomena. See one source for each other the country highlighted.

As you can see from the numbers, these three countries have very similar percentage of paycheck to paycheck lifestyle, but income and cost components of all three locations are very much different . What does it mean? knowing that the inability of saving is of course impacted by slower increase of salaries and faster and constant raise of cost of living, I still believe that there is a clear impact of how living paycheck to paycheck is more accepted in the modern way of living.

So, now that you know where the average person is financially, in five quite different places in the world for both geography and size of economies, a key takeaway that I want you to get from this article is: if you are consistently saving 5 to 10 % of your salary every month, you are already ahead of the average person — well done!

If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then you have an opportunity to make a significant change and start with the first step.

What does “start small” mean?

Starting small means defining a amount — small but still meaningful to you, such as a month’s rent or a mortgage payment — and allocate it to a savings account to be used only for essential life expenses.

The amount itself is not the key part of the step; rather, the discipline to set aside this amount and not use it, represent the simple but challenging step.

Now you know the first step, If you want to understand more about the second step towards financial equilibrium and how to attach debt, stick around and subscribe!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

However, building a balanced financial approach to empower people from every background to make informed financial decisions is not an easy task. To do so, I have spent years reading books about personal finance and investing, listening to podcasts, and, of course, talking to friends and colleagues who have achieved what I aspire to achieve.

Over these years of learning, I have identified five key figures who really helped me strengthen my personal finance knowledge and shape what I today call the TLJ approach towards financial equilibrium.

The first person I want to thank is Dave Ramsey, who opened a new world to me explaining the Baby Steps and providing a very practical approach of the every-day millionaire concept.

Another influence is Scott Galloway, whose algebra of wealth approach analytically simplified the wealth concept and made it accessible to many of us.

When we talk about personal finance, I have to mention The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. This book is truly the essence of it. It made me realise that Finance is made as much by numbers as by our emotions, and understanding who we are is the first step to better understand our relationship with money.

John Bogle, the father of ETFs — Exchange Traded Funds, to be discussed in the future :) — taught me the power of diversification and made tangible what my finance professor used to say in class: “Do not put all your eggs in one basket”.

Lastly, but not least, Ramit Sethi, who helped me feel less guilty about occasionally splurging on one-off expensive items, at the expense of things I do not desire.

I do encourage you to deep-dive on these five people, I am sure you will not regret it.

Going back to TLJ. All the people mentioned above, and so many other, have inspired me to define what I call the TLJ approach towards financial equilibrium. This approach is based on three key principles that represent the what of TLJ — see below:

Firstly, what is a Rainy Day? It is one of those days that you wish it did not exist, for example, having your laptop stolen one month before graduation and having to find the money to buy a new one [real story]. Or being called to a meeting room and being told your job will be made redundant. These days are not good days, but are reality. Even if we do not want, we need to prepare for them. With the TLJ approach, I will share how I prepare for such days.

“We do not plan to fail, we fail to plan.” I heard this sentence in a speech by Denzel Washington, and I thought — this is so right. This concept is applicable to everything, of course, but I feel that when it comes to money, it becomes extremely relevant. Using the TLJ approach, I plan for needs as well as wants, in a structured way.

Lastly, the power of time: as Albert Einstein used to say, compound interest — earning interest over interest over time — is the eighth wonder of the world. The beautiful thing about time, in my opinion, is its objectivity and availability to people no matter of economic background, religion or race. Fun fact: Warren Buffett’s net worth at 60 years old was just 1% of what it is today, thanks to the power of time [source:The Psychology of Money] . You will see how I leverage time using the TLJ approach.

Now that you know the key three principles behind TLJ’s approach, you might ask how I execute them. I have created a seven-steps approach toward financial equilibrium that will provide you perspective on my journey — see below:

If you want to understand more about the seven steps of TLJ towards financial equilibrium, stick around and subscribe!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT

Hi there, first of all, let me thank you. In a society where time is scarce and content is abundant, you have decided to spend a few minutes of your time getting to know TLJ and its journey towards Financial Equilibrium - Thank you!

My name is Carlo, a Christian Italian man who has been living abroad for almost a decade, working across Europe and Asia in data, operations and tech domains mainly within the financial sector.

I come from the south of Italy, a place famous for delicious food, beautiful nature and warm people. However, financial literacy is not part of our daily education, and that is something I learned firsthand during my teenage years. This pushed me to understand money better.

I earned a degree and a master’s in Business and Management from the University of Bologna in Italy, and eventually started a career in the financial sector in The Netherlands, after having worked in Italy and England in the automotive and education sectors, both in analytical roles.

As I kick off TLJ, I am currently living in Manila, where I continue to pursue my career in Finance.

My purpose

For some reason, I always thought that Financial literacy was less of a problem in other areas of Italy or simply abroad. I turned out to be wrong.

In what I call my first career, as a basketball player, I was lucky enough to be the junior of international teams where experienced players were making a good living in a cost-free environment (house paid for and all needs taken care of). Funny enough, I often heard the same discussions in the locker room about how money always went away very fast.

The same happened in London, where I connected with professionals from multiple fields making six-figure salaries but still experiencing financial hardship driven by different reasons.

These learnings made me reflect on the need for two things:

• People need to talk more about money and the challenges we all face.

• People need a more structured Personal Finance approach to empower them to make more informed decisions.

These realisations came to me years ago, and that is when I started doubling down on personal finance studies, from reading books, listening to impactful voices on the internet, and speaking with friends who had done well for themselves to understand how I could do it too.

On a sunny spring day while I was in Vondelpark in Amsterdam, writing some thoughts in my notebook, this idea came to me: Why not create such a structured approach and encourage people to talk more about money? That day, TLJ was born.

So, what is TLJ?

With The Learning Journey “TLJ”, I want to share with people a structured approach that has helped me to make informed financial decisions over the years, deep diving on topics that might appear complex at first, with the ambition to make them easy to grasp to everyone, no matter the background.

My vision

I believe we have been given two eyes so that we could use one to look at where we are going, and one to look at where we aim to go. And I would like to do the same with TLJ.

Sharing the TLJ approach with non-profit organizations, friends, and people in communities to raise awareness about personal finance is what I am focusing on at the moment, but I believe that only by creating a community can we make a significant impact.

This is why I decided to start this community and share my approach with all of you, with the ambition to share helpful perspectives on daily financial topics that impact all of us.

So, Welcome to the TLJ Community - subscribe if you want to get to know more about the TLJ’s approach towards Financial Equilibrium!

Thank you, and until next time,

CT